Product Description

Taabe Waipu has run away from her Comanche village and is fleeing south in Texas on a horse she stole from a dowry left outside her family's teepee. The horse has an accident and she is left on foot, injured and exhausted. She staggers onto a road near Fort Chadbourne and collapses.

On one of the first runs through Texas, Butterfield Overland Mail Company driver Ned Bright carries two Ursuline nuns returning to their mission station. They come across a woman who is nearly dead from exposure and dehydration and take her to the mission.

With some detective work, Ned discovers Taabe Waipu's identity. He plans to unite her with her family, but the Comanche have other ideas, and the two end up defending the mission station. Through Taabe and Ned we learn the true meaning of healing and restoration amid seemingly powerless situations.

Publisher's Description

The Captive Trail is second in a six-book series about four generations of the Morgan family living, fighting, and thriving amidst a turbulent Texas history spanning from 1845 to 1896. Although a series, each book can be read on its own.

Taabe Waipu has run away from her Comanche village and is fleeing south in Texas on a horse she stole from a dowry left outside her family's teepee. The horse has an accident and she is left on foot, injured and exhausted. She staggers onto a road near Fort Chadbourne and collapses.

On one of the first runs through Texas, Butterfield Overland Mail Company driver Ned Bright carries two Ursuline nuns returning to their mission station. They come across a woman who is nearly dead from exposure and dehydration and take her to the mission.

With some detective work, Ned discovers Taabe Waipu identity. He plans to unite her with her family, but the Comanche have other ideas, and the two end up defending the mission station. Through Taabe and Ned we learn the true meaning of healing and restoration amid seemingly powerless situations.

Author Bio

SUSAN PAGE DAVIS is an award winning author who has published more than thirty novels in the historical romance, suspense, mystery, and romance genres. She's a past winner of the American Christian Fiction Writers' Book of the Year Contest and a two time winner of the Inspirational Readers' Choice Contest. Susan is a longtime homeschooler and former school teacher. A Maine native, she now resides in Kentucky with her husband Jim. They have 6 children and 6 grandchildren. Visit Susan at her website: www.susanpagedavis.com.

Taabe Waipu knows she is not a Comanche Indian. She knows she was captured at a very young age. However she cannot remember who she was, or where her family lived. After more than 10 years in captivity, Taabe decides to run away when a warrior seeks her hand in marriage. As she seeks her freedom she is injured and taken into the care of a mission run by nuns. Language barriers and fear of strangers slows her progress in reentering the American West way of life.

Ned Bright is the stagecoach driver who found Taabe on one of his runs. As he gets to know her he realizes that he is falling in love with her. He struggles daily with the fact that one day her family will find her and she will leave. However, he knows that she desires to be reunited with her family so he seeks out any information he can.

A rash and rushed decision to find a Comanche translator results in danger to the mission. As the nuns, Taabe, and several girls who have moved to the mission for schooling prepare for an impending attack, Ned gets in contact with a man who believes himself to be Taabe's brother. They come to visit the mission, but before they can be truly reunited the Comanches attack.

Will Taabe find out who she is? Will she be reunited with her family or will she be recaptured by the Comanches? Can Ned let her go, or will he pursue her regardless of what happens?

*I received this book from Moody Publishers, and am not being compensated for my review.

Captive Trail is the second book in Texas Trails A Morgan Family Series. Even though this is a book in a series, it is also a book that can stand alone. I enjoyed that aspect immensely. I also like the fact that this series of six books is written by three different authors. It has given me the opportunity to discover new authors and their books.

This was the first book I have read by Susan Page Davis and I really enjoyed it! She was able to capture the difficulties of the time and bring it to life in her story. Taabe Waipu is a girl on the run. She didn't want to be married to an Indian brave from the Comanche, all she ever wanted for the last twelve years is to get back to her family and her people. After being kidnapped and forced to live Comanche, Taabe found a way out and took it. However, with her years away from the English language and the punishments she received for trying to speak it, it was lost to her over time.

In her escape, Taabe's stolen horse falls, injuring Taabe and leaving her alone in the open plains. Taabe does her best to keep going on foot, but with her injuries and lack of water, she passes out. She is stumbled upon by a stagecoach that is carrying nuns to their new mission a short distance away from a fort. The nuns bring her to the mission where they care for her. In their time, Taabe slowly adjusts to her new surrounds, but is always careful and with the help of the nuns and her new friend Ned, who was the driver of stagecoach, the search for her family begins. Throughout the whole story, we watch as Taabe learns and grows, and slowly rediscovers who she is.

The pacing of the story was enjoyable and kept me turning pages. As Taabe learned English again, more of the plot was revealed. It was an interesting way for everything to unfold.

Thank you to Moody/ River North, I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

This book was captivating. I've never read a book on this subject and I think the author did a wonderful job of capturing the emotions and depth of the issues the characters had to face! Taabe Waipu remembers the live she was taken from. She remembers that her place is not with the Comanche people with whom she resides, but she doesn't remember anything else. I loved her character. I felt like I was watching her struggle to remember the old way of life. I felt her joy and frustration at learning "white man ways" again. Susan May Warren did an excellent job on Taabe's character. Ned Bright was a simple man. I liked him because he wasn't trying to be tough or macho. He was just a normal guy who falls in love with a girl. He was certainly protective and "manly," but I think he more closely represents real life men.

The story was fantastic. Again, I've never read a story with this subject before and as also stated previously, Susan May Warren did a fantastic job of capturing the depth of emotions and issues these characters had to face. While the story was predictable (in that I knew Taabe and Ned would be together), it was very enjoyable. There were facets of the story that I absolutely loved, like Ned's devotion and dedication to Taabe and her best interests. The interaction with the Comanche at the end kept me rooted to my seat with my eyes reading and furiously scanning the pages!

The message of the book was to trust in God to take care of you and all your needs. I wished this theme was communicated more clearly in the book, but that's what I got out of the story. Overall, I absolutely loved this book and would definitely read it again!

**I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for my honest review, which I have given.**

Everything Cowgirl trail wasn't Captive trail is!!! Susan's writing is exquisite, the story line is amazing, and the pace is wonderful. This is an excellent adventure and a heart warming story. Susan's characters are wonderful and they will steal your heart. An amazing, surprising end will leave you reeling! Or at least it left me that way! I had to read the scene three times it is SO good. Captive trail has given me new love and interest in this series and this author. Susan always has strong female characters, intelligent characters all around, and adds that bit of humor and surprise to whisk you away to the time of Comanche captives, cavalry men in forts, buffalo hunters, and wild Indian renegades raiding the plains in all her books but especially in this one! I can't wait to read more from Susan now! Captive trail is a great read whether you are looking for an adventure during a rainy or snowy day, or if you just want a great read in general! :)

I have 2 songs for this book and 1 of them is from the book (or at least the closest I cold find.) "Amazing Grace" by Spiritual Flute Recorder Music and "Soothing Thunder Tones" by Sleep Tribe

Taabe Waipu was captured as a little girl by the Comanche Indians. After many years she finally escapes. She is taken into the care of some Ursuline nuns and a kindly stagecoach driver. She desperately wants to find her real family, but the Comanche desperately want to find her!

This great story is filled with courage, love, and determination.

I enjoyed this book more than I have enjoyed a book in quite a while. It was realistic and engaging, and it touched something inside of me. I liked that the love story was not the only point of the book. I also loved the rich historical context. I actually learned a lot from this book.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys good clean historical fiction.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Moody Publishers in exchange for my honest review.